Priebus Dismisses Concerns About Steve Bannon Working In White House

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Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus, who is set to serve as Donald Trump’s chief of staff, on Monday morning defended Steve Bannon, a voice of the alt-right who will serve as Trump’s chief strategist and senior counsel, during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“That’s not the Steve Bannon that I know. and I’ve spent a lot of time with him and here’s a guy that’s a Harvard business school, London school of economics. Ten-year naval officer advising admirals. He was a force for good on the campaign at every level that I saw all the time,” Priebus told “Morning Joe” when first asked about concerns about Bannon.

“This is all about achieving President-elect Trump’s agenda. And I can assure you and I think it’s important and I know President-elect Trump wants everyone to understand this, all Americans out there, no matter your race, your gender, your ethnic background, he wants to make you proud of our country, he wants to serve you,” he added.

When asked again about Bannon and the “hatred” that he has stoked, Priebus called on Americans not to judge Bannon.

“I think everyone out there can agree that you judge people as you see them, not as other people have said,” Priebus said. “That’s what I would say is that it’s what people do. It’s how people act on a day-to-day basis. And that’s nothing I’ve ever seen. I’ve only seen a generous, hospitable, wise person to work with. So at the end of the day, this campaign worked because factions within our party were represented.”

He added that Trump “listens to a lot of people.”

“If anyone thinks I’m the only one that’s going to walk in to that office and say, this is what you have to do, I think in a lot of cases, he takes the advice,” Preibus said. “But he likes to listen to a lot of people. That’s a good thing. That’s what you want from a president.”

Trump brought on Bannon, a former executive news website Breitbart, as CEO of his campaign in August. While Bannon led Breitbart, the site promoted anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim stories, and Bannon boasted that the website was a “platform for the alt-right.”. The site once called Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol a “renegade Jew.” And Bannon himself has allegedly used anti-Semitic slurs, according to his ex-wife.

A former Breitbart staffer, Ben Shapiro, criticized Bannon for giving a voice to white nationalists.

“Breitbart has become the alt-right go-to website, with Yiannopoulos pushing white ethno-nationalism as a legitimate response to political correctness, and the comment section turning into a cesspool for white supremacist mememakers,” Shapiro wrote after he left Breitbart.

Watch Priebus’ interview via MSNBC:

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Notable Replies

  1. “I think everyone out there can agree that you judge people as you see them, not as other people have said,” Priebus said. "That’s what I would say is that it’s what people do. It’s how people act on a day-to-day basis*****.

    ****exactly like we did with President Obama and Secretary Clinton for the entire past 8 years, during Donald Trump’s campaign, and during the Debates.

  2. The MSM is in a flurry trying to normalize Bannon this morning, which is a bit shocking. In their drive for “access” they are going to end up rushing themselves headlong into the guillotine. Note how quickly Trump upended his promise to not be so twitter happy by going off on a 4 hour twit anger stream aimed at…The New York Times.

  3. Avatar for okay okay says:

  4. You wouldn’t expect him to pick a fight first day on the job ?

  5. Don’t expect Preibus to say a word about Bannon as Bannon is the real power behind the Presidency now and he knows it.
    The reaction of the 4th Estate to these appointments shows that if you were counting on the MSM to grow a backbone and do some actual “Journalism” to protect us, you are well and truly fucked.
    The entire MSM is bending over and pulling down their pants for the Trump administration in a manner not seen since the first Reagan administration.
    They are falling all over themselves to line up to suck the dick of the Trump administration just so they can be in line to get the coveted “Access” that they all dream of.
    KellyAnn Conway states that the MSM “should watch what they say” and they all AGREE WITH HER.
    Bannon has darkly alluded to “punishing” members of the MSM who don’t “toe the line” and has, in the past, pushed the idea of IMPRISONING “journalists” so the MSM is doing it’s damnedest to make sure they don’t look like a “Journalist” to them.
    We are headed for a long, long, dark tunnel of Autocratic Rule and Corruption on a scale not seen since the Nazi’s consolidated their power in 1934 Germany (yes, I went there.)
    I expect something like the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 (this time aimed at Muslims) to be passed, with barely any opposition from the feckless Democrats (who will be too busy running for their political lives) sometime early in February 2017, with the MSM cheering wildly from the sidelines.
    Hate crimes (and unarmed black men shot by cops) will soar, and by mid-February you will see all of the immigration reforms repealed, the “Deportation Force” created and stocked with racists and KKK members, gay-marriage outlawed, “Religious Freedom” laws enacted at the Federal Level, the climate change bill backed out of, the Iran deal scrapped, and Medicare will be privatized to “replace” the ACA with lots and LOTS of talk about privatizing Social Security next.
    An “Infrastructure Bill” will be passed with great fanfare but little talk about what it really does; Privatize vast swaths of the Public Infrastructure and pour billions into private companies coffers as they outsource the work like mad to increase their profits.
    Weep for America.

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